Remember to leave your cowboy boots at home and to not stomp your feet next time you are line dancing at Chumash Auditorium.
Cal Poly’s Country Line Dancing Club hosts six barn dances per year at Chumash Auditorium, but new rules put in place by Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) have banned stomping feet and wearing cowboy boots to the event.
After January’s event, the club received a call from ASI concerning video footage it had received of the University Store’s windows shaking as a result of the dancing and stomping taking place in the auditorium above.
“If you have ever been there (Chumash Auditorium) when there are a lot of people, the floor does bounce up and down,” Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Humphrey said. “Part of this rule is to protect the structure of the building and the other part is to make sure the floor is not damaged.”
ASI and the club have partnered to create a set of rules that would keep the event safe within the facility, said child development senior Olivia Giorgi, the club’s barn dance coordinator.
Giorgi said while some may be disappointed by the boot and stomping ban, the club is trying to maintain the integrity of country line dancing as much as possible given the new safety features.
“The vibe will be change(d) a little,” Giorgi said. “It maybe won’t feel as country to our active members, but change is a difficult thing, and our dancers and officers will make the best of this change.”
Though the officers anticipate that attendees will follow the rules, they, along with ASI, will attend the dance and make sure the new rules are obeyed.
“We want to keep our club charter and stay on good terms with ASI and abide by the rules they have set up for us,” Giorgi said. “For the first offense, we aren’t going to kick you out, but if it becomes a problem, you may be asked to leave the dance.”
The club officers eliminated more than 15 dances in which choreography specifically said to stomp or jump, Giorgi said.
Despite this new rule, there are modifications in place that will maintain the structure of the line dances.
“The ones remaining are all steps, but some people like to add flare, so they stomp,” Giorgi said. “It is going to take our attendees remembering that it is a step and not a stomp.”
The club officers initially looked into finding another location, but the 300-person capacity level and convenience for students without cars make Chumash Auditorium an alluring location, Giorgi said.
“Chumash is the most feasible option for us on campus,” Giorgi said. “The whole point is to bring line dancing to campus for those who can’t make it to The Graduate. Cost and accessibility are major factors for us.”
The next barn dance will be held this Friday at 7 p.m. in Chumash Auditorium.
Hillary Kaiser contributed to this staff report.